Sampson’s Rivals in DA Race Deny Responsibility for Flier
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

Three candidates facing state Senator John Sampson in the race for Brooklyn district attorney are distancing themselves from an anonymous flier sent to voters in predominantly black sections of the borough alleging that Mr. Sampson “panders” to Orthodox Jews.
Mr. Sampson, the only black candidate among the challengers to four-term incumbent Charles Hynes, has denounced the Israeli government’s plans to uproot Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip. The anonymously mailed orange postcard features a clipping from the June 17 edition of the New York Daily News, which quotes Mr. Sampson as saying that the Sharon government’s abandonment of Jewish settlements in Gaza “in certain ways, is like slavery.”
Although the Hynes campaign said that it had no role in sending the postcards, Mr. Sampson appears to be unconvinced by the incumbent’s denial.
“This is the kind of dirty campaigning that we have come to expect from our current district attorney, and it is something that I will stay above,” Mr. Sampson said. “So draw your own conclusions.”
A Hynes campaign spokesman, Mortimer Matz, said that the incumbent is producing only “positive literature” that focuses on the district attorney’s “leadership, experience, and vision.”
The two other Democrats in the field – the deputy commissioner of trials in the Koch administration Police Department, Arnold Kriss, and the former chief of staff for Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s anti-corruption division, Mark Peters – also denied responsibility for the flier.
“The Mark Peters campaign would never design, print, or mail something as blatantly racist and anti-Semitic as that disgusting flier,” the former Spitzer lieutenant’s campaign manager, Sara Forman, said.
And when asked if Mr. Kriss had any connection to the flier, the candidate’s spokesman, Brian Krapf, issued a terse but unambiguous statement: “No.”
Mr. Sampson made the remarks about Gaza settlers while on a tour of the Holy Land led by a Democratic state assemblyman from Boro Park, Dov Hikind.
That trip appears to be paying political dividends for Mr. Sampson – in the form of a likely endorsement from the state assemblyman, who is an influential figure in the borough’s Orthodox Jewish community.
Mr. Hikind told The New York Sun last month that he intends to endorse either the incumbent district attorney or Mr. Sampson in the upcoming primary. But last week, a Hynes campaign spokesman said that the incumbent “would not accept the endorsement of anyone who advocates racial profiling.” Mr. Hikind has said that police officers should be allowed to conduct non-random searches of Arab subway-riders.
Although Mr. Sampson has condemned racial profiling, a Sampson spokesman, David Vermillion, told the Sun last month that the state senator would still accept a Hikind endorsement.
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The City Council speaker, Gifford Miller, called on Mayor Bloomberg to invest in the city’s potentially lucrative green manufacturing sector at a press conference at City Hall yesterday.
The City Council, along with the New York Industrial Retention Network and the Industrial Technology Assistance Corporation, released a report titled “Building Green,” which said the city and its declining manufacturing industry should seize the opportunity to become a leader in the growing market for green products.
A City Council member, James Gennaro, chair of the environmental protection committee, said that the city should aim to be “the green manufacturing capital” of the nation.
Green products contain fewer toxic materials, incorporate recycled content, or utilize raw materials that regenerate rapidly, improve energy efficiency, or minimize water consumption. Examples include locally made sustainable wood products and energy-efficient glass, window, or lighting fixtures.
The report said the increased demand for green building represents a fundamental change in construction practices, and that spending on green building projects in New York City is expected to exceed $4 billion over the next few years, or about one quarter of all new construction costs.
The report calls on the city government to promote a growing green industry and lower costs for local green manufactures.
The City Council will soon consider legislation that seeks to establish green building standards and employ them in the construction and renovation of building projects paid for with city funds.
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Rarely does the paraphernalia of American political campaigns – the stickers, posters, and buttons ubiquitous in elections ranging from the federal to the municipal – deviate from the safe and patriotic decor of red, white, and blue. So when parts of the city were blanketed with “Weiner for Mayor” placards last week during the five-borough campaign kickoff of Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner, some New Yorkers raised inquiries about the blue and orange pigmentation – particularly, whether it was a subtle attempt to woo enthusiasts of the Mets, who share Mr. Weiner’s team colors.
A spokesman for the Weiner campaign, Anson Kaye, disputed the theory, pointing out that blue and orange are the colors of the New York City flag. “But it certainly doesn’t hurt that they’re the colors of his favorite baseball team,” Mr. Kaye said. “It’s a happy coincidence, at least.”
In what is probably a less than happy coincidence for the campaign, however, Mr. Weiner shares more with the team than its coloration. The baseball team is currently last in its division in the NL East, and Mr. Weiner has consistently tied for last place among the four Democratic contenders for mayor in most public opinion polls.